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BOYS BASKETBALL RANKINGS

Today, we give you the boys Week 11 basketball rankings. Also, our third annual Signing Day Frenzy is Wednesday. To view our growing statewide database of each potential signee Click HERE and to make player submissions of your own follow the quick steps HERE.


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BOYS BASKETBALL
 WEEK 11 RANKINGS

Class AAAAAA

  1. Norcross (20-2)
  2. Wheeler (17-5)
  3. Pebblebrook (16-7)
  4. Tift County (21-2)
  5. Westlake (16-4)
  6. McEachern (19-3)
  7. Newton (20-3)
  8. Brookwood (16-6)
  9. Campbell (16-5)
  10. Shiloh (16-5)

 Class AAAAA

  1. Miller Grove (21-2)
  2. Allatoona (23-0)
  3. McIntosh (19-2)
  4. Gainesville (16-4)
  5. Cedar Shoals (22-2)
  6. Riverwood (23-1)
  7. South Paulding (20-3)
  8. Warner Robins (15-2)
  9. Effingham County (20-3)
  10. Southwest DeKalb (20-4)

 Class AAAA

  1. Jonesboro (20-3)
  2. Lithonia (18-4)
  3. Liberty County (18-1)
  4. St. Pius (19-4)
  5. Eagle's Landing (22-1)
  6. Grady (19-3)
  7. Upson-Lee (19-3)
  8. Monroe (16-5)
  9. Thomson (16-4)
  10. Worth County (17-4)

 Class AAA

  1. Morgan County (18-4)
  2. South Atlanta (19-4)
  3. Calhoun (21-0)
  4. Laney (20-2)
  5. Jenkins (19-3)
  6. Central-Macon (21-2)
  7. Westminster (19-2)
  8. Callaway (14-3)
  9. Banks County (21-2)
  10. Johnson-Savannah (17-5)

Class AA

  1. Thomasville (21-1)
  2. Seminole County (18-4)
  3. Crawford County (19-2)
  4. Lovett (16-4)
  5. Vidalia (21-3)
  6. Swainsboro (14-7)
  7. Chattooga (21-1)
  8. Dublin (19-4)
  9. Early County (17-5)
  10. Macon County (16-5)

Class A-Private

  1. Greenforest (20-2)
  2. North Cobb Christian (17-3)
  3. SWAC (14-8)
  4. St. Francis (15-7)
  5. Whitefield Academy (14-8)
  6. Our Lady of Mercy (17-3)
  7. Lakeview Academy (19-4)
  8. Stratford Academy (15-5)
  9. St. Anne-Pacelli (14-8)
  10. Tattnall Square (14-7)

Class A-Public

  1. Wilkinson County (16-5)
  2. Turner County (18-5)
  3. Calhoun County (14-8)
  4. Treutlen (19-2)
  5. Hancock Central (16-5)
  6. Lincoln County (14-5)
  7. Central-Talbotton (16-8)
  8. Taylor County (15-7)
  9. Randolph-Clay (15-8)
  10. Quitman County (16-8)
 
 
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Tuesday, February 2, 2016






WEEK 11 BOYS RANKINGS
By Kyle Sandy
 

Norcross leads deep AAAAAA poll


Welcome to February. The cold month of January heated up during its final week seeing a multitude of upsets that has given the rankings its most movement over the entire season. Class AAAAAA saw two powers take major hits. Westlake took over the No. 1 ranking from Shiloh back in Week 2 and held serve for eight weeks before falling to No. 5 this week after an 81-80 loss at home to new No. 9 Campbell on Tuesday and a 59-57 loss at Douglas County (13-9) on Friday. The Spartans have won five-straight now in Region 3, highlighted by wins over Westlake, Douglas County 72-61 and Langston Hughes, 79-74. The aforementioned Shiloh saw its struggles continue, dropping to No. 10 after a 62-59 loss to Brookwood on Friday, who debuts in the polls at No. 8. The Generals had lost two in a row before rebounding on Tuesday with a 74-44 throttling of Dacula (17-5), who started their downward spiral the week before. Shiloh looked back on track after the bounce back win, but the Broncos ambushed them. The Generals showed resilience on Saturday beating Grayson (17-5) 61-47. As Shiloh has sank in the ranking, they have dragged down Grayson and Dacula with them, knocking last week's No. 10 and No. 9 teams out of the top ten.
No. 8 Brookwood earned its signature win to enter the poll on Friday. It has been a long time coming for Coach Daniel Bowles. From a 5-win season in 2011-12, Bowles advanced the team to 16-10 the next year, but fell on hard times, going 12-14 in 2013-14 and 7-19 last season. The Broncos finished second to last in Region 8 last year but now find themselves in a log jam for fourth place. The resume has been impressive for Brookwood. Wins have come over Berkmar (14-7), White County (16-7), Johns Creek (21-2), GAC (14-9), Heritage-Conyers (17-5), Grayson (17-5) and now No. 10 Shiloh (16-5). Micah Kinsey and Bubba Parham have been a lethal 1-2 punch in the backcourt. Kinsey, an unsigned senior point guard, is as true a leader as they come averaging 11.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 4.5 steals. Parham leads the team in scoring from his two-guard spot averaging 16.3 points.
No. 7 Newton drops two spots after a tough loss to rival Rockdale County (12-10) on Senior Night, 52-50. The Rams had taken first-place in Region 2 momentarily after beating Tucker (18-5) on Wednesday, 58-48. Pebblebrook leaps three spots to No. 3 and in the process pass No. 4 Tift County, who doesn't climb the top five even after two Westlake losses. The Falcons have been playing their best basketball of the season and received some scoring punch from someone other than Collin Sexton and Jared Harper, in Dwight Murray. The sophomore guard scored 18 points in a 72-48 win over Langston Hughes. Pebblebrook leaps No. 4 Tift County based upon strength of schedule and more importantly, Preston Horne, the Blue Devils' leading scorer, being out for the remainder of the season with an ACL injury. Pebblebrook has a chance to cement itself among the top five, getting a rematch at Westlake on Tuesday, a game they lost 76-70 at home earlier in the year.
On the precipice of cracking the top ten remain Lambert (21-2), Johns Creek and Collins Hill (20-3). The same goes for Lambert and Johns Creek as it does with Tift County. The Longhorns and Gladiators have complied great records and will be a legitimate No. 1 and No. 2 pair out of Region 6, but the region is weak and doesn't stack up to the likes of Region 3, 7 and 8, which has put six teams in the top ten (No. 1 Norcross, No. 3 Pebblebrook, No. 5 Westlake, No. 8 Brookwood, No. 9 Campbell, No. 10 Shiloh). Both teams are both still in search of their key signature win.
The only change in Class AAAAA came between the bottom two spots. No. 9 Effingham County moves up a spot over No. 10 Southwest DeKalb. The Rebels have passed every test presented to them in Region 3, with their latest A+ grade coming against Statesboro (17-6) last week, scoring a 51-35 win on the road. No. 10 Southwest DeKalb lost at home against No. 1 Miller Grove in front of a capacity crowd on Tuesday, 53-45. McDonalds All-American and UConn signee Alterique Gilbert scored a game-high 17 points to fend off a wild Panther rally, scoring nine of the Wolverines' 10 fourth quarter points. No. 5 Cedar Shoals and No. 8 Warner Robins both have challenges coming up. The Jaguars host Heritage-Conyers (17-5) on Tuesday in a rematch of a 54-51 victory which saw Cedar Shoals lead for only the last 6:06 of the game to earn the Region 8 road win. The Demons visit Jones County (14-9) and potent scorer Devin Wooten. The senior guard pours in 25.6 points per game.
Region 6-AAAA was won on Friday night as No. 2 Lithonia used an 11-3 run in the third quarter to pull away from No. 4 St. Pius and land a 56-48 win over the Golden Lions on Senior Night. UT-Chattanooga signee Rodney Chatman went off for a game-high 24 points and grabbed six rebounds in the region clinching win. Kerney Lane posted 19 points and seven rebounds in the loss. No. 3 Liberty County moves up two spots following a season sweep of No. 9 Thomson, 80-72 on the road.  Grady tumbles two more spots to No. 6 after a 67-62 loss at home to Lithonia on Tuesday. The Knights weren't at their best later in the week, but they still managed to pull out a 56-52 overtime win against Columbia. Sandy Creek (15-6) lasted just one week in the top ten after resurfacing. The Patriots lost 58-56 to Carrollton on Friday but quickly turned around and beat Fayette County 76-64. In for Sandy Creek is No. 8 Monroe, their second time in the poll. The Tornadoes get the nod over 17-7 Bainbridge. On Jan. 23, Monroe beat the Bearcats 65-52. UGA signee Tyree Crump was held to 8 points on 1-of-8 shooting. Emeshaun Offord leads Monroe in scoring and poured in 23 points in the win. The Bearcats are in consideration to make the top ten after drilling No. 10 Worth County 93-79 last week. Crump shook off his prior bad shooting performance and dropped in 45 points. No. 7 Upson-Lee ran its win streak up to 14 games with a 62-61 edging of Westside-Macon on the road. No. 1 Jonesboro beat Pike County 116-14; a 102-point win. It's not the first time Coach Daniel Maehlman has run the score up on the lowly Pirates. They drilled them 80-19 on Jan. 15.
No movement was seen in AAA. No. 2 South Atlanta survived a 36-point fourth quarter from Jackson-Atlanta on Tuesday to win 72-71 on the road. No. 3 Calhoun faces its last test of the season before entering the state tournament, welcoming 19-4 Coahulla Creek on Tuesday. The Colts lost by just eight in their previous meeting, 60-52. Jireh Wilson scored 31 points to lift the Yellow Jackets. Caleb Lewis and Alex Fisher will need monster games in order to upset Calhoun. Elsewhere, No. 6 Central-Macon survived Spencer (7-16) for their 14th straight win, 73-69. No. 7 Westminster puts its 18-game winning streak on the line against rival Blessed Trinity (11-11) this Tuesday. No. 9 Banks County got its revenge against North Hall. The Leopards won 62-47 at North Hall following a 67-66 loss on Dec. 21.
And then there was won. Lovett moves up two spots to No. 4 in AA and in the process kicks Pace Academy (11-10) out of the ranking after holding the No. 4 spot, with a 66-63 win in overtime against the Knights. Crawford Schwieger hit a three at the buzzer to send the game to overtime for the Lions. Henry Richardson torched the Knights from deep, hitting 6-of-9 threes for 23 points. Ryan Greer added 14 points, six rebounds and seven assists while Schwieger netted 12 points in the statement victory. Wendell Carter Jr. had 24 points and Isaiah Kelly 17 in the loss. Pace's roller coaster of a season now sees them out of the top ten late in the year. They have a respectable Region 6 record at 9-2, but the region as a whole has been up-and-down for various reasons. At points in the season, four teams filled the top ten, but now just Lovett remains. Holy Innocents' (15-6) drops from No. 9 to unranked following a 63-46 loss at Pace. The Golden Bears have been riddled with injuries. Brent Duncan, the team's top low post option at 6-foot-7, has missed half the season with an injury. Back up 6-foot-7 center Richard Surdykowski played exceptionally well, but a stress fracture in his foot has cut his junior season short. For GAC (14-9, 9-3), Garrett Covington a Gwinnett Daily Post Super Six selection has left in the middle of the season. Brian Coffey, a recent North Florida-commit, is gone as well leaving first-year Head Coach David Eaton's team in shambles.
Outside of Region 6's turmoil, Region 1 features a rematch of one of the best games of the year and possibly a future state championship matchup between No. 1 Thomasville and No. 2 Seminole County. The defending state champion Indians took down the bigger Bulldogs on Jan. 9 at home, 71-65. Thomasville has since regained the No. 1 ranking in the state and will try to hold it for good if they are able to slow down Jordan Harris (UGA) and Anfernee King. No. 6 Swainsboro moves up four spots and has proven that it is more dangerous than its modest record suggests. The Tigers drilled No. 8 Dublin 75-61. No. 9 Early County and No. 10 Macon County both re-enter the top ten after Pace and Holy Innocents' fall out.
In a legit battle of 7-footers in Class A-Private, No. 1 Greenforest crushed King's Ridge 74-45, dropping the Tigers (13-8) out after just one week as they lost three straight games. Justin Forrest finished with 21 points and five assists, collecting the 1,000th point of his career along the way. Ikey Obiagu battled with newly eligible Tolu Jacobs inside, nearly 14-feet worth of bodies. Obiagu outclassed Jacobs with 14 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks. Jacobs, with the muscle advantage, could only muster three points and fouled out early in the fourth quarter. No. 2 North Cobb Christian crushed Christian Heritage 73-39. No. 6 Our Lady of Mercy swapped places with No. 7 Lakeview Academy due to an impressive win at Walker 73-57, dropping the Wolverines out of the ranking. Replacing Walker and King's Ridge are No. 9 St. Anne-Pacelli and No. 10 Tattnall Square Academy. The Trojans sneak into the top ten thanks to a 69-67 win over No. 8 Stratford Academy and a 64-59 win over First Presbyterian Day before slipping to Landmark Christian 74-69. Tattnall Square has nice wins on its resume such as No. 9 St. Anne-Pacelli (14-8), 2A No. 6 Swainsboro (14-7), 1A-Public No. 1 Wilkinson County (16-5) and wins over No. 8 Stratford (15-5) and First Presbyterian (13-8).
Class A-Public saw Hancock Central fall from No. 1 to No. 5 following a 61-59 upset at Lincoln County, who rises four spots to No. 6. It was the Red Devils' first win over Hancock in over 25 years. Following back-to-back losses, Lincoln County has turned things around winning three-straight. They followed Tuesday's momentous victory over the Bulldogs with a 82-40 drubbing of Glascock County and a 61-54 win against Georgia Military in which they held Luke Lawson, the state's third leading scorer at 25.7 points per game, to two points. Ahmad Rand flirted with another triple-double, posting 10 points, nine rebounds and nine blocks. With Hancock's loss, No. 1 Wilkinson County takes over. The Warriors have great size inside and have won seven-straight. No. 2 Turner County continued along its warpath to the No. 1 spot while No. 4 Treutlen drops a slot due to strength of schedule. No. 10 Quitman County enters the top ten, but it is No. 7 Central-Talbotton who is making the most noise right now. A 66-61 win over No. 8 Taylor County pushes the Hawks into contender status.
SEE LEFT PANEL FOR RANKINGS


SIGNING DAY FRENZY
 

Unsigned stars indicate NSD2016 drama  


The future of college football will be readymade this Wednesday (Feb. 3) as National Signing Day 2016 corrals the next class of collegiate stars. The Peach State's Class of 2016 has once again attracted programs from across the country and will be center stage as its top prospects make their final decisions. The top 3 ranked recruits in the state of Georgia are stiil undecided and it will be a fight for the finish for this trio of five stars and many more impact players waiting to sign.
Leading the undecided stars is Lanier's defensive tackle Derrick Brown. The 6-foot-4, 317-pound lineman was named Atlanta Journal Constitution All-Classification Player of the Year this past season. The athletic and disruptive defender tallied 106 tackles, 42 tackles for loss and 13 sacks in Lanier's 12-game season. As a result, Brown became the first AJC all-classification player of the year whose team did not make at least the quarterfinals in the past 30 years.

His head coach Korey Mobbs knows the type of athlete Brown has become.

"The kid can easily dunk a basketball at 320 pounds,'' Mobbs told the AJC. "Most people think of a player of his stature as a hole-plugger or tackle-to-tackle guy, but he really shows his athleticism on plays to the outside, or wide receiver screens where he makes the play for no gain, or when running plays down from the backside where he lays out like a big-time athlete.''

Brown also blocked kicks, took carries and caught touchdown passes this season and gave a glimpse into the complete package a lucky college will land next week. East Paulding fell 27-13 to Brown and the Longhorns this season and head coach Jon Lindsey was impressed with the talent and effort of the state's top prospect.

"We wanted to know where he was lined up on every play,'' said Lindsey. "We felt like we could not block him, so we used him as the read in our option scheme. I have coached against several big-time recruits, and the thing that impressed me the most was how hard he played. He did not take a lot of plays off. I was very impressed.''

Brown's leading schools are Alabama, Auburn, Georgia and Tennessee.

PLAYMAKING POTENTIAL...

Fellow five-star Mecole Hardman Jr. out of Elbert County will have the college football world also keeping track of his decision this Wednesday. Hardman is a U.S. Army All-American that is being heavily recruited by Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee and Ohio State. Hardman recently changed his Twitter profile header to an edit of himself and a recent commit in Ohio State jerseys. The 5-foot-10, 170-pound athlete quarterbacked Elbert County this past season but can be used as an explosive receiver, running back, return man and possibly defensive back at the next level.  

Hardman practiced at defensive back before moving over to wide receiver at the U.S. Army All-American game, where he accounted for 143 all-purpose yards with three catches for 36 yards, one carry for five yards, two punt returns for 57 yards and two kickoff returns for 45 yards. Hardman is coming off a senior season that saw him pass for more than 700 yards and rush for more than 2,100 yards.

Further south, Savannah Christian star Demetris Robertson is waiting to make his anticipated college decision. The five-star receiver could also play a multitude of positions depending on his development. Robertson has narrowed his choices down to Notre Dame, Alabama, Georgia and Stanford. Robertson was visited by Georgia's Glenn  Schumann on Jan. 21 and then took an official visit to Alabama on Jan. 22. The folloing day, Robertson announced that Notre Dame had become his outright leader.

Robertson would be the second five-star recruit Notre Dame has landed in this class if he inks the Irish. Cincinnati (Ohio) Elder five-star offensive tackle Tommy Kraemer, the nation's No. 8 overall player, was the first.

Per the 247Sports Composite rankings, Robertson is the No. 14 overall player nationally, No. 1 wide receiver in the country and No. 3 player in Georgia from the class of 2016.

CRUNCH TIME...

National Signing Day is sure to see it's annual shuffling of decommits and surprise moves, but there are still plenty of prospects keeping their decisions completely open until the day of. Peachtree Ridge safety Nigel Warrior is expected to make a decision between Tennessee and Alabama. Warrior is listed as the No. 4 safety in the country and the seventh-ranked prospect in the state. The University of Georgia is hoping to land Archer's massive offensive tackle E.J. Price on Wednesday. The 6-foot-6, 311-pound lineman took official visits to both Auburn and Georgia this week. Georgia is also expected to land Jackson defensive tackle Michail Carter. The 6-foot-4, 302-pound tackle is the 14th-ranked prospect in the state according to 247sports and is predicted by every recruiting source to sign with the Dawgs next week.

In the national class rankings, Alabama currently ranks seventh and Georgia sits at ninth, but that is not a surprise considering recent events. The Tide were busy winning a national championship and are just now pouring focus into solidifying this class and Georgia's new coach, Kirby Smart was coordinating Alabama's championship defense. Expect both Georgia and Bama to keep climbing this week.


DERRICK BROWN HIGHLIGHTS

MECOLE HARDMAN HIGHLIGHTS

DEMETRIS ROBERTSON HIGHLIGHTS






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